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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23553253">Magic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/propheticfire/pseuds/propheticfire'>propheticfire</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Viren Week [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday Fluff, Disney magic, Family Vacation, Fluff, Gen, Magic, Viren Week (The Dragon Prince), Viren Week 2020, found kids, lost kids, mild parental distress, parenting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:35:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,738</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23553253</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/propheticfire/pseuds/propheticfire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Viren's Disney vacation with his kids coincides with his birthday. It's a day he won't soon forget.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Claudia &amp; Soren &amp; Viren (The Dragon Prince)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Viren Week [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/580429">Disney Trip art</a> by fmayyy.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Traipsing through Disney isn’t exactly how Viren had planned to spend his birthday, but between work and school, this week was the only one that had fit into his and the kids’ schedules. It’s been a year since the divorce, and the kids are adjusting as best they can, but he’d wanted to do something to help take their minds off it. He’s tried so hard to enjoy himself too, but every part of him not covered by clothing has been sunburned more than once. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get the chlorine smell from the resort pool out of his hair. Parts of his body ache that he didn’t even know existed. His voice is hoarse, his head hurts, there are blisters on his heels, and if he has to hear “It’s A Small World” one more time he might just throw himself into the moat around Tom Sawyer island and let the riverboat run him over.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> But the kids…</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> It’s day five, and somehow they still have just as much energy as day one. The joy that lights up their faces every morning as they enter the park has been worth every sore muscle and sleepless night. Soren has not stopped talking about Pirates of the Caribbean, running around their hotel room with his plastic sword and feathered hat, forcing Viren to hold Claudia “captive” so he can duel him to save her. “But <em>I </em>don’t have a sword,” Viren protested, the first time. And Soren came back with, “Pretend you’re a dark wizard, Dad! Use magic! You’re an evil pirate wizard!” Claudia, for her part, has insisted she’s capable of saving herself, and has assembled and disassembled her Haunted Mansion attic diorama kit twelve times already since yesterday, in varying ways. They’re a little disappointed they won’t get to go on Space Mountain again before they leave, but only a little. Because today…</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> …is Star Wars day.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> If Viren had backpacks with leashes on them, he would have used them, because the kids are already trying to take off in different directions as they enter this part of the park.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Dad! Lightsabers! I wanna get a lightsaber!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Look Daddy it’s Rey!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Dad I wanna fly the Millennium Falcon!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Daddy can we get some blue milk? Or some green milk? I want blue <em>and</em> green milk! Does that make turquoise milk? Do they have <em>purple</em> milk?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> As tired as he is, Viren can’t help but smile at their enthusiasm. “Questions, so many questions! Yes, we can <em>look</em> at the lightsabers. No, you are <em>not</em> gong to build your own. I will <em>try</em> to take you to meet Rey. Yes, Smuggler’s Run <em>is</em> on our to-do list. Yes, we <em>will</em> get some colored milk. I don’t think they have purple. Just don’t get too far ahead of me. There’s a lot to do and I want to make sure you stay close so we don’t waste time.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Claudia is too excited about the milk, so that’s the first place they head, even though it’s on the opposite end of Star Wars land from where they are. Ah well. Viren can modify their itinerary a bit. They’ll just work their way back down to this end instead.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Or at least, that’s the first place they <em>would</em> have headed if both Soren <em>and</em> Claudia hadn’t gotten distracted by toys.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Dad look! There’s the lightsabers! Can we see them? Please can we see them?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Is that a bantha? And a porg! And…I don’t know what that warty-looking one is but I want to pet it!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> They’re both tugging at his hands, so with a sigh he lets them lead him into the toy shop. Immediately they pull out of his grasp, Soren toward the lightsabers and blasters, and Claudia toward the stuffed creatures. He tries to grab their hands again, but they’re too fast.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Kids! Wait! Stay togeth— Come back— Oh for goodness’ sake, Soren! Claudia don’t go too far!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The shop isn’t <em>that</em> large, though, and he can just make out Claudia’s form on the other side of a kiosk, so he opts to trail after Soren. He’s the more likely one to run off or accidentally break something anyway.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> After exploring the shop a bit, Soren runs up to him, a lightsaber in one hand and a blaster in the other. “Dad! Dad look! Now I can be a <em>smuggler</em> Jedi!” He brandishes them both with enthusiasm. “Can I get them?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Viren tries to catch his son’s flailing arms. “You can be a smuggler <em>or</em> a Jedi. Not both. You have to pick one.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Soren considers, then finally thrusts the lightsaber at his father. “This one.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Very good. Now go put the other one back and find your sister. I’m getting in line.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The store had started filling with people as they shopped, and the checkout line is getting lengthy. He’ll have to hurry if they want to stay on schedule. He steps into the queue as Soren scampers off.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Soren reappears once with a stuffed warty toad-like creature. “Claudia wants this. We’re gonna go look at the blasters again, okay?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Okay, but you can still only get one—”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Soren is gone before he can finish the sentence.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “—thing.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Eventually, he reaches the front of the line. He pays for the items—<em>how</em> are these things that expensive?—and weaves through the people back to the lightsabers and blasters.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Soren?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> He doesn’t see his son. Or his daughter. He looks around the area again. They’re not there. Okay maybe they went back over by the stuffed animals.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> They’re not there.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Maybe they went up to the register to find him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> They’re not there.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Maybe they’re somewhere else in the shop.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Not there.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Maybe they went outside to wait?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Not there.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>They’re not there.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <em> Where are his kids?</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> He takes a deep, slow breath, trying to quell the cold dread that’s quickly building in his stomach. They can’t have gone far. They obviously did. There’s only so many places they could be. They could be anywhere. Maybe they went to find an employee to help them. <em>Maybe someone took them.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> There are a couple other shops adjacent to the toy one. Viren walks through those. Checks every corner, every hiding place around and behind every kiosk and clothes rack. There’s still no sign of them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Where are his kids?</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Maybe they did go to the milk stand after all. Soren <em>had</em> asked for a map of the park, presumably to tape it up on his wall when they got home. Maybe Claudia had insisted and they’d gone on ahead. But if he goes there, and his kids come back to the toy shop, then he’ll miss them. But he can’t stand here and do nothing. He walks one last time through all the shops he’d checked. Still no sign of them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Having made his decision, he takes a breath, and heads for the milk stand.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> They’re not there <em>either</em>. And he hasn’t seen them on the streets, or in the line for Smuggler’s Run. That cold panic constricts his chest, weighs down his limbs. This is the last thing he needs. Four days at Disney and he’s held it together, and on the final day he <em>loses his kids</em>. How could this happen? How could he <em>let</em> this happen? He should have never let them out of his sight, he should have designated a meeting place for them here, he should have gotten the backpacks with leashes, he should just never have come—</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Excuse me, are you Lord Viren?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> He snaps his head around. The speaker is…an employee, he thinks. They’re dressed very Star Wars-y, but they have a nametag and an earpiece. “My name is Viren, yes.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Could you follow me, please?” the employee says. “Your children are waiting for you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Oh thank goodness.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “What? Where? You found them?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The employee nods, and says something into the earpiece, then beckons him to follow. They lead him back through the Star Wars attraction, all the way back to almost where he’d first entered. There, talking happily with the actor playing Rey, are his kids. He nearly collapses with relief. <em>They’re okay. They’re safe and they’re okay.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Dad!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Soren notices him and waves. It’s all he can do to not run over and gather his son in his arms. Claudia sees him too, and tugs on Rey’s outfit. She crouches down so Claudia can whisper something in her ear, and smiles.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The employee who had led him here stops before them and announces, “Young Master Soren and Padawan Claudia, we have located the dark wizard Lord Viren, as you requested.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Soren and Claudia clap. A few more employees gather closer. Something tugs at the back of Viren’s mind. It feels like there’s more going on here than it seems.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Rey stands up and approaches Viren, his kids in tow. “These very bold and thoughtful younglings sought me out to tell me that today is their father’s birthday. They love their father very much, and they wanted to surprise him with something nice.” She nudges the kids, and they run to the edge of the little half circle that’s formed around them, taking some things from the employees standing there. When they come back, Claudia is holding out a piece of chocolate cake, and Soren is holding up a shirt with Darth Vader’s silhouette on it, that reads “BEST DAD IN THE GALAXY”. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “A little Disney magic, from our family to yours,” Rey says, and then she nods at Claudia.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Claudia immediately bursts out into song. <em>“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!”</em> The gathering crowd quickly catches on. The third line is a garbled mess between “Lord Viren” and “Dad” and “Daddy”, but by the end, Viren is blushing hard and there are tears in his eyes. He kneels down and envelops his children in a hug.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Please don’t ever run off like that again,” he says quietly, “I was so worried. But thank you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “We love you Daddy,” Claudia says.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Yeah Dad,” Soren echoes. “We love you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “And I love you. Now, who’s ready for Smuggler’s Run? I think it’s almost our turn.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Yaaaaaay!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> The kids run back to Rey to say their goodbyes, and the actor hugs them both, before nodding in his direction, a genuinely delighted smile on her face.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “I do believe these younglings are safe in your care. Happy birthday, Lord Viren.”</span>
</p>
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